1.2 Marco Teórico
1.2.2 Condiciones de Vida
The interview protocol was adhered to and the interview process form (Appendix ‘F‘) acted as a guide which allowed for free flowing interviews and answers during the 11 face-to-face interviews. The results were to be the basis of the questionnaire (Appendix
The interviews lasted between 35 to 45 minutes. During the meetings participants were asked about their views on leadership and change management within Abu Dhabi Police (ADP). The meetings were broken down to seven segments. The segments or sections contained seven themes which composed of: 1) demographics, 2) determining police leadership, 3) self-reflection on police leadership , 4) recognition of senior police leadership qualities in others, 5) role and link between senior police leadership, change management and project execution, 6) leadership style and competencies in project management, and 7) working environment.
The results of Phase One (face-to-face interviews) and the results of Phase Two (questionnaire survey) were to be strikingly similar. It was noted that the issue of statecraft and situational leadership figured prominently during both phases. Some
unexpected issues arose in Phase One including wasta.Simply defined, wasta is
favouritism, which is an attempt to use the influence of relatives or acquaintances to achieve certain objectives (Urban Dictionary.Com, 2015).This issue was later included in questions in Phase Two of the research. All these matters will be debated and discussed in more depth in the discussion part of this thesis.
In summary, the results of Phase One can be divided into seven sections. These
sections include: 1) demographics, 2) determining police leadership, 3) self-reflection on police leadership , 4) recognition of senior police leadership qualities in others, 5) role and link between senior police leadership, change management and project execution, 6) leadership style and competencies in project management, and 7) working environment. The details of the seven sections used in Phase One are examined in more detail
hereunder
.
Phase One, Section 1: Demographics
Some of the demographic questions included: Age:Rank:
Educational achievement(s): Years of service:
Years as a senior police leader:
The 11 participants interviewed in Phase One were an average of 41 years of age with an average and their length of service as a police officer of 20 years. The
average length of service as a senior police leader was 6 years. Educationally, all 11
participants either had a master’s degree or ordinary degree
.
Phase One, Section 2: Determining Police Leadership
This section dealt with defining leadership and police leadership. Some of the questions asked from the interview process form (Appendix F) to the participants were: a. Please explain whether or not, within ADP, there is or should be a shared definition of police leadership?
b. Please explain whether or not, within ADP, there is or should be a shared definition of police leadership? How do you define police leadership?
c. Please discuss whether explanations of leadership from other areas, such as business enterprises, are useful in the policing context?
Two general themes emerged from the participants that were identified as a) common
definition concerns and b) application of business leadership definitions
.
Questions were asked as to whether or not there should be a shared definition of police leadership in ADP. There was consensus that there are certain leadership competencies that will be shared among ADP senior police leaders and the police services, but that there are too many differences among communities to rely on one standard definition of police leadership for all. Participant 7, stated,” I am having difficulty defining police leadership but I know there is a difference between business leadership and police leadership. With police leadership you are, at times required to make a decision that could mean life or death. I don’t know too many business leaders in industry or commerce that can say that.”
There was also a consensus that each community defined police leadership differently and expected police leaders to act according to the needs of the community. A shared definition of leadership was not found amongst the participants replies.
Connecting the leadership profile to the community was a theme that emerged from the interviews
.
Most of the participants agreed there should be a different definition between police leadership and business leadership.
The police culture, police organisations and police officers were seen as different from
Some of the participants felt that trying to define police leadership and business leadership was too difficult and that the wording of each would lead to simply quibbling over semantics.
In discussion it was acknowledge some business leadership skills were readily
transferrable to a police service. This was summed up by Participant 8 who explained, “Business leaders and police leaders both have similar skills and qualities but not enough to make each other fundamentally the same. Our operating environment, history and culture make police leaders think and act differently to other leaders”.
When attempting to explain police leadership all the participants began to use phrases or adjectives to explain the definition of leadership. This was expanded upon by some participants during the face-to-face interviews and as a result some of these phrases or adjectives are contained in Table 1.
Leadership Qualities
Honest
Respectful
Integrity
Trustworthy
Good communicator
Common Sense
Polite
Politically astute
Business acumen
Makes ethical decisions
Competent in Project
Management
Has Statecraft
Career, not a job
Logic
Takes responsibility
Solid operational skills
Higher level thinker
Flexible
Quality in work
Team builder
Table 1 - List of descriptors for police leadership.
This list was later included in the questionnaire used in Phase Two.
Phase One, Section 3: Self-Reflection on Police Leadership
Section 3 of the Interview Process Form (Appendix ‘F’) related to how the participant became a police leader and reflecting back on how they were identified as a
potential senior police leader
.
Four distinct themes that emerged from the interview data: a) opportunity, b) self-
Foresight
Vision
Accountability
Work ethic
Enthusiastic
Is focused on out come
Preparedness
Caring
Diligent
Approachable
Predictable
Organisationally supportive
Willingness to learn
Dynamic
Well versed
Self-Aware
Empathetic
Sincerity
Creativity
Passionate
Selflessness
Self-reflective
Initiative beyond years of service
Dreamer
Desire to influence
Has ‘wasta’
In regard to opportunity; there was consensus that opportunities arose throughout an officer’s career to display abilities. The senior police leader participants, in the main, believed ADP recognised leadership potential earlier in their career. Their potential was recognised by supervisors and senior police leaders.
Although there were several areas where opportunities presented themselves, investigations, projects and special initiatives were seen as the vehicle for leadership potential to be mostly recognised and displayed. Participant 1 stated, “If a projects goes well and you have worked hard on the project; there was a good likelihood that the senior police leader of the project would commend you”.
Investigative ability was also seen as a means from which officers could demonstrate leadership potential.
On the topic of self-identification; the majority of participants agreed that once they self- identified their personal desire to become a leader, they started career planning and looked for opportunities. Some participants also looked towards ADP to provide opportunities and for ADP to have a major influence in their career planning. For
instance, Participant 10 explained, “Abu Dhabi Police should tell us what career path we have to take. I don’t need to select my own career path as the organisation knows our abilities and moves us accordingly”. While Participant 10's view was in the minority, there appeared to be a belief that self-direction and self-identification of abilities and potential for higher position was in the hands of ADP and the individual had limited influence
.
On the other hand, some recognised that the organisation was not responsible for police officers' advancement and described it as a partnership between the police officer and ADP.
Mentors were recognised as important people in the participants' careers, for those who identified they had mentors. Mentors were described as leaders within an organisation who saw potential and provided opportunities and suggestions for growth. Mentors were
formal and informal
.
There were several participants who indicated that they clearly had no formal mentorship from people within their police organisation .Participant 2 and Participant 6 indicated they had informal mentors from outside ADP.
Personal relationships and the ability to get along with other people were also credited with being important for leadership development, specifically in speaking about mentoring connections within the organisation. Only one participant mentioned that a
personal connection was almost a mild form of wasta. The participant went on to say that
he personally had not seen wasta in ADP. This was the first mention of wasta at any of
the interviews
.
Timing was believed to play an important factor in a police officer's career and has significance in the identification of their leadership potential. Participant 11 stipulated that, “Sometimes you find yourself to be the only one in the department with the skills and ability to do the job. If that is the case you will receive promotion. At other times there could be several officers with potential for leadership in the department and you have difficulty standing out from the others. At times it’s simply about timing.” Other participants indicated timing was an important element in leadership decisions but was not the most important factor.
Phase One, Section 4: Recognition of Senior and Executive Police
Leadership Qualities in Others
The forth section of the interview process form (Appendix “F”) was used to facilitate responses from the participants. When asked the following questions contained in Appendix ‘F’:
a. Tell me about a time when you discovered junior police officers with potential for senior police leadership?
b. What was it about the context that made this identification of senior police leadership potential possible?
c. Describe a time when you identified a senior police leader with potential for higher executive police leadership?
d. What was it about the context that made this identification of executive police leadership potential possible?
The session started with initially asking participants the first two questions of section four on how they identify those whom they think have senior police leadership potential. This was later followed by asking the latter two questions of section 4 relating to
executive police leadership. Certain issues began to emerge by asking these questions.
The first two questions resulted in three themes emerging from the recognition of police leadership in others. The three themes that emerged from the interviews:
a) attitudinal potential,
In addition leadership potential through visceral responses or 'gut feelings' emerged as an additional theme which will be highlighted in the latter part of this chapter.
Attitudinal potential was one of the first of the themes to emerge. It was recognised by the participants that junior police officers with leadership potential were those who have the right attitude or mind set. Participant 3 described the mind set as, “Having the right attitude to deal with the public in a friendly and professional manner. If you can get on with all sectors of the public you will get on with colleagues and this helps with leadership selection.” Another Participant 7, explained, “The attitude test is two ways. If a member of the public infringes a minor law they can usually get off with an informal warning. If that same member of the public fails the attitude test, it could result in the law being fully enforced. If a police officer fails the attitude test they too can feel the negative
consequences not only from the public but from colleagues. A good attitude is essential for advancement and good for the community we serve.” Gut feeling was mentioned when Participant 9 described the attitude. It is difficult to describe but you sense it. Those with a positive attitude usually get on with senior management and are prepared to work hard”.
Observing the demonstration of appropriate attitude was recognised as a problem within police organisations. Sometimes, the worked base promotion and assessment systems do not look for attitudinal behaviour within people with leadership potential. Some
participants thought that this could lead to leadership potential being missed within formal assessment systems (Participant 8 and 11).
Leadership potential was also described as being prevalent in junior officers with a series of adjectives and phrases which included; being polite, solid operational skills, takes responsibility, has logic.
Attitude was recognised as being difficult to teach to junior officers, but recruiting those with the proper attitude was something that was thought could be achieved.
The second emerging issue was strategic potential. An officer of junior rank with leadership potential was described as having an understanding of ADPs mission statement and having the ability to demonstrate the vision of the police organisation in a routine management role (Participant 3). Participant 1, describing strategic potential as, “Having the ability to think and speak strategically in all we do. Today a modern Abu Dhabi Police look for staff with strategic knowledge that can progress through the ranks”.
It was apparent that possessing the qualities of a strategic thinker was an indicator of potential.
A number of Participants (8, 1 and 10) talked about strategic thinkers also having a sense of responsibility, being able to understand strategy in-depth and take respectfully, for themselves and others especially for initiatives and strategic tasks.
Potential leaders were said to understand that they have power and that power was to be used tactically and strategically; always bearing in mind the impact on people and the organisation (Participant 11).
Demonstrating leadership potential was also discussed. Not only junior officers but also senior police leaders were seen as having potential, if they stand out and are noticed by their peers and executive police leadership.
Leadership potential was identified when the officers started doing things for the
organisation and getting involved in proactive activities. They proactively sought learning opportunities and experiences and did the job well; they were considered most likely to succeed. Participant 7 talked personally about this matter and explained, "I personally looked for opportunities to learn new skills and stand out from the crowd. The downside is I always ended up with too much work to do”.
ADP as an organisation was identified as having a responsibility for development and for identifying positive leadership behaviour (Participant 8 and 2). It was recognised that all police organisations have a role to play in providing an environment to grow and allowing a learning culture for staff to gain knowledge and skills. Leadership training was seen as an excellent tool to allow talent to grow.
The last two questions of section 4 in Appendix ‘F’ drew a mixed response from participants. When identifying other senior police leaders with potential for higher executive police leadership and the context which made the identification possible, a mixed response was received including gut feelings or visceral responses
However, nine of the participants indicated that by simply meeting with fellow senior police leaders on a formal and informal bases during normal working hours, led to the participants forming opinions about leadership potential and qualities required for higher ranks. Most of the responses from the participants included descriptors similar to those given in Section 2 of this Chapter which are mainly contained in Table 1.
A number of participants (2, 5 and 8) agreed that they use as part of their assessment gut feelings or visceral responses when assessing potential for senior police leadership and indeed all leadership positions. The participants agreed that most visceral responses
occurred when they were observing or interacting with a junior and senior police officer. As a result of that interaction, the participant had gut feelings about others potential for
advancement
.
The participants were able to identify certain situations involving other leaders where they observed or which generated emotions or feelings about their leadership potential. Some of these feelings included:
Feeling of charisma
Sensing a significant trait
A feeling of trust and trustworthiness
An air of self-confidence
Having a command presence.
Visceral responses were seen to have something to do with a confidence you perceived
by watching or engaging with other colleagues
.
When assessing personality, some participants agreed that other officers they identified as having senior police leaders or executive police leadership potential was through visceral responses. One participant felt that he tended to view other officers with potential
as having a similar personality types to himself
.
Trustworthiness also produced an important emotional feeling and it was noted that people tend to gravitate towards people who they instinctively trust.
It was mentioned by Participant 1 that “You can receive or have a gut feeling if a
colleague will make it to the highest ranks. You can also get a negative feeling if they are destined to remain in the rank they are.”
Alternatively, the lack of self-confidence was identified as a negative visceral response by one interview participant.
Some of the phrases or words used by the respondents to describe leadership qualities were also include in Table 1 relating to descriptions or qualities of police leadership.
Phase One, Section 5: Role and link between Leadership, Change
Management and Project Execution
Using Section 5 of the interview process form (Appendix F) participants were asked to explore the linkage between senior police leadership, change management,
projects and their importance
.
The role of the senior police leader was seen as essential if a project or initiative was to be successful. Participant 11 felt that, “A professional senior police leader will influence all the members of any team. There is a better chance of success if the police leader gives guidance and time to the initiative or project”.
The majority of participants were of the opinion that projects were the main vehicle which effected change within ADP and it was important to provide the appropriate resources to
this area of work
.
All the participants agreed that there linkages between senior police leadership, change management and project execution. Participant 4 gave an explanation of the linkage by saying, “Virtually all parts of the police are interlinked. Without the linkage we cannot function as an organisation. It’s the senior police officer in charge that influenced and decided how effective and successful any change or project will be. A quality leader will always have the teams working together”.
It was acknowledged that projects were seen as the main tool for executing change within ADP. All participants interviewed were aware that it was the government of Abu Dhabi Emirate that introduced projects to improve the effectiveness of ADP. Lieutenant General His Highness Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and